


The Little Mermaid

by LilacChocolate



Series: The Disney Princesses from the Kingdom of Iwatobi [6]
Category: Free!, The Little Mermaid - All Media Types
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Crab! Rei, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Fish! Nagisa, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Guard! Seijuro, Kidnapping, King! Makoto, Kissing, M/M, Merman! Ai, Prince! Ai, Prince! Rin, Princess! Gou, Queen! Haru, Sea witch! Kisumi, Servant! Momo, Servant! Sousuke, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2019-06-28 05:56:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15701211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacChocolate/pseuds/LilacChocolate
Summary: Aiichiro wants nothing more than to experience life out of the ocean. Can a certain red-headed prince help him achieve his dream, or will a sea witch jeopardise his chances?





	1. Rin

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Welcome back to the series! I hope you enjoy this story as much as the other ones! (✿◠‿◠)
> 
> Also, the first chapter is for my awesome friend, Kirstyn! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> Happy birthday! :*

Aiichiro sighed as he rolled over on the coral, staring at the rays of sunlight that pierced through the water. Gosh, he wanted to feel that: the sun on his face and arms and chest. The humans got to feel that every day. Why couldn’t he?

He rolled over again, so he was led on his tummy, and gave his turquoise tail an annoyed flick. Why wasn’t he allowed on land? He’d never understood why his dad was so against it. And it wasn’t as if the rule was only for him. All of the merfolk had to obey his order. But Aiichiro was the prince. Surely he could break a rule or two without anyone ever finding out?

With a smirk, Aiichiro turned back over. The sun had gone in and the water above him had turned purple and grey, getting more and more turbulent with every moment that he stared at it. He always loved it when it got like this. The colours were so mesmerising to look at and he adored the way the water felt around him.

It wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look, would it?

The merman prince smiled, then he shot upwards. His head broke the surface of the water and the sky made a cracking sound. A moment later, a bolt of light shot down somewhere close, and then water began to rain down on Aiichiro. He closed his eyes and laughed, holding out his hands to catch it. Why hadn’t he ever done this before?

There was a groan and Aiichiro looked around, his smile now gone. What was making that noise? He swam in the direction of it and Aiichiro gasped when he saw land. There was yellowy-white shore that the water lapped onto, creating white foam and bringing up seashells. Storm clouds submerged the rest of the landscape, but Aiichiro could see well enough just to make out pieces of wood and fabric on the shore, along with… was that a human?!

He swam faster now, his excitement leading him forwards until he could see the human more clearly. It was led down on the sand, face first, completely unmoving. Was it alright? When merfolk did that, it usually meant they were dead.

Aiichiro panicked and swam even quicker. He couldn’t let the first human he saw die. He would save it.

He wriggled up onto the shore and turned the human over so their head was resting in the lap of his iridescent tail. They appeared to be a male. A very _handsome_ male. Aiichiro felt himself blush as he let his hands gently brush over the man’s face. He had dark magenta hair, thin lips, and high cheekbones, but his skin was a deathly pale colour. What had happened to him? Did the wood and fabric have something to do with it?

Aiichiro shook the man’s shoulders, as if trying to wake the man up, but he didn’t rouse. What was he supposed to do? Aiichiro racked his brains, trying to think of something his parents did when he was unwell. After his mum left, his dad would sometimes sing to him. That always made him feel better. Maybe that could work here? The merman prince nodded to himself and began to sing, now running his fingers through the man’s hair.

After a moment, the rain stopped falling and the man coughed, water spluttering out of his mouth.

Aiichiro smiled and continued to sing. It had worked!

More water came out and the man groaned. He reached an arm up, shielding his eyes from the faint sunlight that was shining. What was going on? The last thing he remembered was being on a ship, and then there was a storm… he groaned again. They must have crashed into a rock or something. But that didn’t explain why he was led on something that felt like a fish, nor the beautiful voice that was signing to him.

He put his arm down and opened his eyes slightly, smiling at the sight above him. The most gorgeous boy he’d ever seen was running his fingers through his hair as he sang to him. He had dazzling light blue eyes and cute grey hair. With the sunlight framing him, he looked like some sort of angel.

He only had a moment to admire the beauty above him before the boy let out a lovely little gasp and darted behind the nearest piece of debris.

Aiichiro’s heart was pounding in his chest. The man had opened his eyes. What if he had seen him?! Going on land was one thing, but allowing a human to see him was another. Should he go back to him? He bit his lip as he watched the man turn his head slowly, trying to spot him amongst the wood and rocks on the beach without getting up. The man must have been in pain to not be able to search for him properly.

He put out his hands, about to wiggle back to him, but he stopped, alarmed when he heard shouting.

‘Rin!’

‘Rin! Where are you?’

‘Your Highness!’

The redheaded man – Rin – managed to sit up with a groan. ‘I’m here!’ he shouted.

Aiichiro gasped at the sound of Rin’s voice. It was deep, yet it still had a soft quality to it. It was so nice. No other creature in the whole ocean had a voice like it. Aiichiro would happily listen to only that voice for the rest of his life.

But Rin appeared to have heard the gasp and he looked over in Aiichiro’s direction. They locked eyes for a second, both of their hearts beating erratically for a brief moment before Aiichiro reluctantly looked away from those astonishing red eyes and slipped back into the ocean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	2. Under the Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiichiro can't stop thinking about Rin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this chapter is so super short! But this fic needs some groundwork laying in the first chapters :) chapters will get progressively longer soon! :*

As soon as Aiichiro was far enough back under the sea, he stopped swimming and leant against the nearest coral. He held a hand to his chest, willing his heart to calm down.

A human had seen him. _A human._ And more had been approaching. What would have happened if he had stayed?

He took a few more seconds to calm down, and even though he’d gotten his breath back, his heart was still beating erratically. What was wrong with him? He thought back to the man on the beach – to Rin – and his heart sped up even more. Rin was so handsome. And his eyes were so pretty.

Aiichiro giggled and spun in the water, then began to leisurely swim back home. What kind of person would Rin be? Smart? Funny? Kind? Spontaneous? Silly? Gosh, Aiichiro wanted to see him again, even if only to just find out what kind of person the redhead was.

He stopped swimming in shock as he realised something. Those other men had called Rin “Your Highness”. Was he a prince?! Maybe his dad knew his family. Maybe there was more hope than he thought for seeing Rin again.

‘Your Highness!’

Aiichiro jumped in surprise. He twirled around and saw Rei, a purple lobster, and Nagisa, a yellow and pink tropical fish, swimming towards him. The two creatures were Aiichiro’s best friends, and Rei also served as his father’s advisor.

‘Hey, guys,’ he said with a smile as they got nearer.

‘What are you doing so far out here, Ai-chan?’ Nagisa asked as he swam around the prince.

‘Just exploring,’ he said, hoping that his cheeks weren’t bright pink.

Rei frowned. ‘Your Highness, are you aware that you’re ten minutes late for lunch with you father?’

Aiichiro gasped. ‘Thank you for reminding me!’ he shouted over his shoulder as he swam even faster, heading home to the kingdom of Iwatobi; now desperate to tell his father about Rin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	3. The Sad King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiichiro meets his father for lunch.

Makoto stared down at the dining table, his crown on the verge of slipping off and into his food. He sighed and sat up, leaning against his high-backed chair now.

The dining room was beautiful. It had tall ceilings and the walls were painted powder blue with white coral applique, each of them lined with seaweed that had been charmed to turn gold by a sea witch. Every room in the palace had been decorated to match, all to ensure the happiness of the Queen. But he wasn’t here anymore.

Makoto blinked a few times to get the tears out of his eyes, then he looked over at the dining room doors. Where was his son? They were supposed to meet five minutes ago and his son was never late. Panic settled in his chest. Had something happened to him?

Just as he was about to get up and go and look for him, a breathless Aiichiro swam into the room and Makoto’s anxiety eased.

‘Sorry, I’m late, dad.’

Makoto smiled, trying to dispel his almost permanent melancholy disposition, and let his son kiss him on the cheek.

‘It’s alright, you’re here now.’

Aiichiro sat down next to his father and they began to eat.

After the first mouthful of fish, Makoto spoke. ‘How come you were late?’

‘I got… distracted.’

‘That’s not like you.’

‘Yeah, I know.’

Makoto glanced at his son out of the corner of his eyes. ‘What were you doing?’

‘Nothing!’

The king sat back in his chair with a playful grin. ‘Did it have something to do with a boy?’

Aiichiro panicked. How did his dad already know what he’d been doing?! And why was he so calm about it? He thought for sure he’d be angry with him for going on land.

‘You don’t need to look so worried, Ai. You’re going to be seventeen soon, and it’s royal tradition to be married by the age of eighteen. I’d rather you marry for love like I did than have to arrange something for you.’

The prince blushed. ‘I’m not sure if I want to marry him…’

‘So, there is someone?’ Makoto asked, and then resumed eating.

Aiichiro nodded. ‘I’ve only seen him once, but he’s so wonderful, father. I think you might know him.’

‘Oh? What’s his name?’

‘Rin. He has red hair and red eyes. He’s so good looking, and I didn’t really get the chance to speak to him, but he seems so kind and clever. I really want to see him again.’

Makoto narrowed his eyes as he listened. He knew all of his subjects and not a single one of them were called Rin. Maybe he was from a different kingdom? ‘Which kingdom is he from?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘Where did you meet him?’

‘On the shore. I was thinking-’

The food fell out of Makoto’s hands. ‘Say that again.’

‘On the shore. That’s where we met.’

Makoto clenched his jaw. ‘By any chance, is Rin… a human?’

‘Yes. I thought you knew that.’

The king tried to take a deep breath, tried to count to ten in his head, tried to stay calm, he really did. But he couldn’t, not in this situation. ‘Guards!’ he shouted and two swam into the room immediately.

‘Yes, your Majesty?’

‘Escort Aiichiro to his room. He is not to leave there for the foreseeable future.’

Aiichiro’s mouth fell open as he got up from his chair. ‘I don’t understand, father. What’s wrong?’

Makoto glared at his son. ‘My rule about never going on land is in place for a reason. It applies to everyone, including you.’

‘But, f-father,’ Aiichiro stuttered, ‘the humans are nice. They wouldn’t do anything to harm us. Why are you so angry? I’m sure if we got to know them a little-’

‘Enough!’ Makoto bellowed, and everything was silent for a moment save for the sound of the light swish of water around them. ‘You will not defy me on this, Aiichiro. You will go to your room and stay there. Guards, make sure of it.’

The two guards each grabbed one of Aiichiro’s forearms and began to drag the protesting prince from the room.

‘Let go of me! You can’t do this to me!’

Makoto turned away from his son. He didn’t want to do this, but he had to, for the sake of his son’s protection.

He could hear Aiichiro struggling and shouting, but he kept his head turned away still: it would break his heart to watch.

The king heard the dining room doors open, and Aiichiro shouted to him again. ‘This is why mum left!’

That’s when Makoto turned. He met his son’s light blue eyes, so similar to his mother’s, before he was dragged out of the room, the doors slamming behind him.

Makoto sat in silence for a moment, tears blurring his vision, then he flipped the dining table over and sank into the sand, sobbing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	4. Upside-down Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto decides it's time to tell his son the truth about his mother.

Makoto didn’t know how long he’d been sat on the floor. An hour, maybe two. Possibly longer. Either way, he’d cried the whole time. The table was still flipped over. Food was scattered on the sandy floor. The King’s sobs filled the room.

He could handle Aiichiro talking to humans. That was something he could fix, something he could prevent from happening. But bringing Haruka into this…

A fresh bought of tears racked Makoto’s body. Haruka had been his darling, his angel, his whole world. He still was, no matter where he was. Even if he had long been dead, killed at the hands of the one who took him fourteen years ago, Makoto still loved him.

He shook his head. He couldn’t think like that. He had to keep the hope in his heart that his Haruka was still alive, wherever he was.

Makoto wrapped his arms around himself. Fourteen years. He was touch-starved for his husband, his queen. If he could see him again, hold him again, even if only for five seconds, he would take it without hesitation.

He took a shaky breath in. It was time to tell his son what had happened to his mother all those years ago. Aiichiro had spent almost all of his life believing that, for whatever reason, his mum had left Makoto and had abandoned Aiichiro along with him. It had probably taken its toll on Aiichiro mentally, as well as their already somewhat strained relationship. He had to tell his son the truth.

…

Turquoise tail wrapped around his body, Aiichiro led on his bed, crying his heart out. He shouldn’t have said that to his father, but he couldn’t help it. It just came out in the heat of the moment. But just the thought of never seeing Rin again made his chest feel like it was tearing itself in half. It couldn’t be over, not before they had even spoken to each other.

Aiichiro shook his head, scolding himself for how stupid he’d been for what he said. He had no memories of his mother, but he knew his name was Haruka, from the occasional time he’d heard his father say it. The rest Aiichiro knew about his mother he had learned from Rei, Nagisa, and the palace guards and staff.

Haruka had black hair and blue eyes, which was who Aiichiro had inherited them off, and he was extremely beautiful. He hadn’t been born royal. Rather, Haruka had been the son of one of the palace chefs when both he and Makoto were children. They had grown up together, falling in love with each other gradually until Makoto proposed to Haruka when they were seventeen. They were married by eighteen, had Aiichiro at twenty-one, but Haruka had gone by the time he was twenty-three. Aiichiro was only two. He knew his mother spent time with him, and he sometimes saw flashes of his face in his memories, but there was nothing solid, nothing tangible that he could recall. He didn’t know how he smelt, what his touch was like, how he smiled at him. The only other thing he knew was that his parents had genuinely loved each other. He knew what he said was wrong then, but Aiichiro had no explanation of what had happened.

Why would his mother just up and leave like that, if not because of his father? But that still didn’t make any sense. His father was a lovely man: today was the first time he’d ever raised his voice to him. So, had his mother left because of something Aiichiro had done? Had he been that terrible as a baby? That didn’t make sense either.

He sniffed and wiped his eyes. No matter how many times he asked, no one in the palace, or the whole kingdom for that matter, would tell him anything. The only thing that the mermaids and mermen and fish would tell him was that his parents genuinely loved each other, as well as their son. Other than that, no one told him anything. It was like the whole kingdom had been sworn to secrecy.

Aiichiro sat up, holding his tail to his chest now. Was it so wrong to want to know why his mum had left him? He thought parents were supposed to love you, no matter what you did, no matter what happened. Friends, lovers, they could all leave you, but parents loved you unconditionally, right? They had to.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then swam over to his bookcase. In the centre of the middle shelf sat his mother’s necklace. It was a white brachiopod shell pendant, tinged blue at the edges, hanging on a chain of finely cut coral. It had been in his possession for as long as he could remember, but he’d never worn it. Why had his mum left it for him?

He sighed and looked at the rest of the objects surrounding his mum’s necklace. They were all human and managed to bring a tiny smile to his face. He hadn’t gone onto the shore to find them. He’d found them floating in the water, or half-buried in the seabed. He had no idea what any of them were for, or what their proper names were, but he loved to look at them and touch them. They were so different from mer-made objects, and each one was unique, but his favourite one was the one that let him see his face. It was a metal stick with a round metal shape attached to the top, both sides showing his distorted reflection, and one side showed his face upside down. It never failed to make him laugh.

The door to his bedroom opened and Aiichiro turned around with a smile, hoping that it was his father, but his small grin dropped when he saw Rei and Nagisa swim into the room and the door slam behind them.

‘How are you feeling?’ Nagisa asked with a frown.

Aiichiro put the object down and sighed. ‘Awful. I shouldn’t have said that to my dad. He didn’t deserve it.’

‘No,’ Rei said. ‘You shouldn’t have.’

‘Rei!’

‘It’s okay, Nagisa. He’s right.’ Aiichiro sat back down on the bed. ‘I shouldn’t have said something so mean just because I was upset.’

‘You shouldn’t have been talking to humans either, Ai. That rule is in place for a reason.’

Nagisa lightly whacked Rei with one of his pink fins. ‘We’re meant to be making him feel better!’

‘But why is that rule in place?’ Aiichiro asked. ‘No one’s ever told me.’

Rei and Nagisa shared a glance, then just smiled at their prince, and Aiichiro huffed. ‘See! No one will tell me! I just want to know what my dad won’t let me, or anyone else, talk to humans.’

The purple lobster sighed. ‘Your father is just over-protective of you, Ai. He doesn’t want to lose his son, too.’

‘But what do you mean by that?!’

Rei averted his gaze and Aiichiro flopped backwards onto his bed. This was so frustrating. He was ready and willing to understand, but no one was giving him any chance to do so. And if no one was going to tell him why the humans were so dangerous, then he was going to find out for himself. As soon as Rei and Nagisa fell asleep, he was going to escape from his room and swim to land, and he’d stay there as long as he needed to, the consequences be damned.

‘Shall we ask the guards to send up some food?’ Nagisa asked. ‘You only ate breakfast today.’

Aiichiro shook his head. ‘No, it’s fine. I think I’m just going to go to bed for now. All the crying has exhausted me.’

The two sea creatures nodded in understanding, then came to lie on either side of Aiichiro of the bed.

‘We’ll sleep with you.’

Aiichiro smiled at them both and shut his eyes. It wasn’t yet night time. He could afford to take a nap before he left.

…

When Aiichiro woke up, both Nagisa and Rei were snoring soundly beside him, and the water outside of his window frame had gone dark. He didn’t know how long the sun had been set for, but if he was going to leave, it had to be now.

Slowly, he swam upwards, making sure not to create too many bubbles and disturb the sleeping sea creatures. With baited breath, the prince turned back to the bed and smiled when he saw that neither Rei nor Nagisa had moved.

He took a brief look around his room. Was there anything he would need? He had no weapons in here. Maybe he should take one of his books? Aiichiro shook his head. What good would a book do? He glanced over at the shelf that held all of his human objects. Perhaps he should take a couple of them in a bag. But he had no idea what to use them for. They would just make him look foolish.

He bit his lip. He felt like he should take something… he scanned the room again, then swam over to where his mum’s necklace lay. Aiichiro carefully draped the coral chain over his head, then checked his reflection in the metal stick and circle. It suited him perfectly. His mother had probably made it for himself to match his eyes. Aiichiro had got his eyes from him. Of course, it suited him.

With one last smile at his reflection, Aiichiro swam over to the glass-less window and glanced both ways. The two guards outside had fallen asleep against the wall. It would be hours until they even noticed the prince was missing. Aiichiro giggled quietly, then he swam out of his bedroom, away from the palace, towards the shore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	5. Aquarium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin decides he has to find the merman from the beach.

Rin watched with narrowed eyes as the merman he owned swam around in the massive tank before him. The bright lights in the room reflected off the water, casting rainbows on the floor and giving the big room a blue hue. They shone on the merman’s tail, too, making it look pearly and iridescent. This merman was beautiful, but not quite the same as the merman from the beach.

This one had a light blue tail, dark blue eyes, and black hair. The one on the beach had had a turquoise tail, light blue eyes, and grey hair. They did look similar, though. Maybe they were related, Rin mussed.

But god, the merman from the beach seemed so much more beautiful than this one. He was so full of life, so young and happy. The merman his father had captured fourteen years ago was older and was permanently sad. His eyes seemed hollow, empty almost. Most of the time, he looked as if he wanted to drown himself, if that was even possible for mermen. In all these years, Rin had never even heard the merman speak.

But he’d heard the merman on the beach, loud and clear. That pure, angelic, _gorgeous_ voice ringing in his ears as he woke up. Rin so wanted to see him again, but he didn’t think it was possible. He supposed he could walk up and down the beach everyday in hope that the merman would return to the shore. It wasn’t that far from the ocean-side palace he lived in, but the balance of probability was that the merman would never return to the shore. The only other way he could see him again would be to explore the ocean, but, once again, he probably wouldn’t find anything. Before his father had passed away, he had told Rin everything he knew about merfolk, and one of those things was that they lived deep in the ocean, too far down for humans to reach. He’d got lucky when he’d caught the black-haired merman, who had just happened to have been near the surface and hadn’t seen Rin’s father coming.

Maybe he should set this one free and make him find the grey-haired merman? Rin bit his lip as he considered it. It probably wasn’t a good idea. This merman more than likely hated him for keeping him locked up in a tank like this. If Rin set him free, he’d probably never see another merman again. He hummed and stepped closer to the tank.

‘I’ll keep you in here for the time being. Maybe I can learn something from you.’

The merman stopped swimming then and glared at Rin. He looked as if he wanted to speak, but he didn’t open his mouth. Rin smirked. He wasn’t usually so mean, but he was desperate to finally get a reaction out of the black-haired merman. Anything he could learn from his captive might help him find the merman from the beach.

‘In the morning, I’m going for a walk on the beach. I have someone to find. Maybe you know him. He has grey hair, blue eyes. Oh, and a turquoise tail.’

The merman’s eyes widened then and he started banging on the glass. His mouth was moving, and he was saying something, but the water was muffling it. To Rin, all it sounded like he was saying was ‘eye’ and ‘ma boat’. Maybe the merman really did know him.

Instead of taking a step back, Rin moved forwards. The merman’s eyes were wide and there were ripples around them. Was he… yes, he was crying underwater.

Rin found himself smiling. He knew he shouldn’t be. The merman he owned was obviously incredibly distressed, but this brought on a nice change. Before, he would only swim, eat, and sleep. He had never got a reaction like this out of him.

He stopped banging on the glass then and slumped against it, sliding down to the sandy floor of the tank.

Rin crouched down. ‘Do you want me to find him for you?’

The black-haired merman nodded and he wiped away his tears, the ripples around his face stopping.

Rin stood up to his full height and straightened his clothes. He had to find that merman now, if not just for him, but for his father’s merman, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	6. Empty Palace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto discovers that Aiichiro is missing.

The king swam along the corridor of his ocean palace, taking in a deep breath as he approached Aiichiro’s bedroom. He had decided to wait until the morning to tell his son what had happened to his mother fourteen years ago. He had to get what he wanted to say straight in his head first.

He’d only ever had to tell the story once before, and that was just after Haruka had been taken. He had addressed his people, and for a week, they had all mourned for their queen in case he was dead. Haruka had been a quiet queen, and was often perceived to be aloof and not caring about anything, but in the short time he had reigned for, the merfolk had come to know him as kind and sincere, even if he didn’t speak much. They had all loved him dearly, and were as equally as devastated to learn he had been taken by humans.

Makoto had also sworn everyone to secrecy. Aiichiro was very young at the time, but he had been traumatised by his mother’s sudden disappearance. The king had decided that it was for the best that no one told his son what had happened to Haruka, and whilst it had been fine for years, it wasn’t any longer. He just hoped that by telling him what had happened that they could salvage what was left of their relationship. Maybe after they had spoken, and Makoto had comforted his son after the inevitable tears that would come, they could go downstairs and play the piano together. It was the only human object he would allow in the house, besides Aiichiro’s tiny collectables, because they brought his son so much joy. Hopefully, Makoto could make his son happy, too, without the need for reminders of who took Haruka away.

He approached the door and floated in front of it for a moment. Aiichiro would understand. He had to understand. This was for his own good.

The king nodded and the two guards at either side of the door stood to one side, then Makoto swam forwards and opened the door.

He smiled as he swam into the room, wanting to hug his son and apologise for shouting at him, but the smile quickly faded from his face when he saw Aiichiro wasn’t there. His bed was empty, apart from Rei and Nagisa, both of whom were sound asleep. He wasn’t reading on his chaise longue, or doodling at his desk. He was gone.

Panicking, he swam over to the bed and shook both Rei and Nagisa until they woke up. ‘Where is Aiichiro?’

‘Huh?’ Nagisa mumbled, still sleepy, but Rei turned this way and that, alarm also dawning on his face.

‘Your majesty, I… he was here. We all went to sleep together. He was in between us…’ Rei trailed off and looked down. ‘I’m sorry, your majesty. We don’t know where he’s gone. Or when he left.’

Makoto shook his head as he swam over to the hole in the room, intended to serve as a window but with no glass. It was small, but still big enough for Aiichiro to fit through. Whoever took him could have come this way. The king poked his head out of the hole, and to his horror, saw that the two guards who were on duty were snoozing against the palace wall.

He turned back around then, becoming frantic. How could he have let this happen?! He couldn’t go through this again. The sleepless nights, the loneliness, having to tell his subjects that he’d lost another member of his family. He’d barely survived the depression last time. He couldn’t do it again. He was certain it would kill him.

As he swam back over to the door, about to order the guards to search the kingdom, he noticed the shelf on Aiichiro’s bookcase that was devoid of books. It was the shelf he kept to showcase the few human objects he’d found, along with his mother’s necklace. Which was now gone. Aiichiro hadn’t been taken at all. He had left of his own accord, probably to go to the shore and see more humans.

Makoto let out a cry of panic and he swam to the door now. He couldn’t lose Aiichiro to them, too. He would search the whole sea if he had to, but he would get his son back.

He flung the door open, surprising the guards. ‘Aiichiro has gone missing. Gather all of the guards from the barracks and split up to find him. Do not bring me back bad news.’

‘Yes, your majesty!’ they both shouted before swimming off, then Makoto took a moment to catch his breath against the palace wall. He wanted nothing more right now than to just curl up on his son’s bed and sob to his heart’s content. He had done this. He had pushed Aiichiro away and into the arms of some human prince. If only he’d told him the truth about Haruka…

He shook his head. What was done was done, and he wasn’t going to swim around the palace as if nothing was wrong. He was going straight to his quarters to fetch his trident, and then he would be joining the guards in their search for his son.

As king, he had been afforded some magical ability. It wasn’t the strongest, since he wasn’t born with it, but it been passed down to him by his father in the trident that had been wielded by the kings of Iwatobi for centuries. He wasn’t sure what he would be able to do with it that would help him find his son, but he was determined to at least try. He couldn’t do nothing.

First his beautiful Haruka had been taken, and now his precious Aiichiro. He couldn’t let it happen again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	7. Part of Your World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiichiro rethinks his decision to leave.

Aiichiro swam this way and that in the dark water. It had only been an hour since he had left the palace, but already, the first rays of sunlight were creeping in and Aiichiro was wishing he were back at home.

What was he thinking? He couldn’t just swim up to the shore and hope for the best. How would he survive? He had no legs. He couldn’t just crawl around looking for Rin. He really should have thought this through. He should go back to the Ocean Palace, plan properly, and leave in a few days time.

With a smile, Aiichiro spun around, but his grin turned into a frown when he realised that he had no idea where he was. He didn’t recognise any of the rocks or corals here. Where on earth had he swum? Before he could really start to panic, a voice called out to him.

‘Are you lost, darling?’

Aiichiro turned back around, and floating a metre away from him in the water was another merman. He was a few years older than Aiichiro with pink hair and a fluorescent purple tail. He seemed nice.

‘Er, yes, a little bit.’

The other merman smiled. ‘It’s alright. You look a little shaken up. Would you like to come back to my cave for a while?’

Aiichiro bit his lip as he thought. If he didn’t know where he was, then that must mean he was incredibly far away from the palace. Ten more minutes wouldn’t do much harm. ‘Sure.’

The two mermen swam together for a moment in silence before the pink-haired merman spoke. ‘I’m Kisumi, by the way.’

‘I’m Aiichiro.’

Kisumi glanced over at him. ‘Are you the prince, by any chance?’

‘Er… yes.’

Kisumi chuckled. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. Why are you all the way out here on your own, though?’

Aiichiro sighed. ‘It’s a long story.’

‘Well, I’m all ears.’

They came to a cave then. It was small, but cosy, with a bed pushed into the far corner. A few larger stones acted as chairs, and a stone desk had been carved out of the cave wall. On top of it was a small cauldron, and next to it was vials of different ingredients that Aiichiro had never seen before.

‘Are you a sea witch?’

Kisumi smiled as he sat down. ‘Yes.’

‘So, you have magic?!’ Aiichiro had always been fascinated by it. He knew the trident his father possessed gave him some magic, but it wasn’t natural; he hadn’t been born with it.

‘Yep.’ Kisumi swam over to a stool and sat down, then patted the other one. ‘Are you going to tell me why the crown prince is all the way out here then?’

Aiichiro sat on the offered rock and told Kisumi everything. He had been brought up to be wary of merfolk and sea creatures that he didn’t know, especially since he was royalty, but he just found Kisumi so easy to talk to. He’d kept it all in for so long. It was a relief to get it all out.

Kisumi sat back a little when Aiichiro finished telling him what had happened. ‘Wow. All of that for just talking to a human. I had no idea the king could be so harsh.’

‘My father isn’t usually like that, that’s the thing. It was so out of character for him.’

Kisumi hummed. ‘I still think you should pursue Rin, no matter what your father says. I know you don’t know him very well, but you shouldn’t pass up on the opportunity to not get to know Rin. He could be your true love.’

Aiichiro sighed and leant his chin in the palm of one of his hands. ‘That’s the problem, though. I have no legs. How am I supposed to find him again with no legs?’

Kisumi hummed and swam over to his desk, where he picked up a necklace. It was similar to the one Aiichiro wore, but wasn’t quite as nice. ‘I know a spell. It’s not that hard, but I can give you legs in exchange for your voice. You won’t be able to speak on land, but you’ll be able to walk. You’ll get your voice back when Rin kisses you, and I’ll store it in my necklace until then, so it’ll be safe. What do you think?’

Aiichiro couldn’t help but grin. ‘You’d really do that? For me?’

Kisumi nodded. ‘Of course. As long as you’re sure that you can make Rin fall in love with you without the need for your voice, then I’ll do it.’

‘Then let’s do it! How does the spell work?’ Aiichiro asked, bouncing on his stone seat a little.

‘We join hands and I cast the spell. The hand joining is so we agree that you’ll get your voice back when Rin kisses you, so I guess it’s technically more of an exchange than a spell. As soon as I cast the spell, you need to leave straight away and swim up to the shore, and when you reach it, you’ll black out, but then you’ll wake up and you’ll have legs, but no voice. Does that sound okay to you? Can you do it?’

‘Yes! Let’s do it!’ Aiichiro held his hand out and Kisumi laughed.

‘Alright. Here goes nothing.’ Kisumi took the prince’s hand in his, then the witch closed his eyes, and a moment, their joined hands started to glow purple.

Aiichiro gasped as he watched the colour sparkle and fade, and then Kisumi opened his eyes and let go of the prince’s hand.

‘It’s all done. But you need to leave, right now, or it won’t work.’

Aiichiro nodded and hugged Kisumi. ‘Thank you so much! I won’t forget what you’ve done for me!’ Then the merman prince swam out of the cave, far too excited to even think about even returning home.

‘Good luck!’ Kisumi shouted with a smile, but then it turned into a sneer. The ocean prince was such a foolish and naïve boy. He shouldn’t have swum here in the first place, to where the witches lived. They were all dangerous and manipulative. Kisumi would have killed Aiichiro if he hadn’t mentioned Prince Rin.

He had been near the shore the other day, gathering ingredients for his potions, and he’d heard two people from the palace talking about how the prince had fallen for a merman and was on the lookout for him. Judging by the description given, Aiichiro was that merman, but what Rin had remembered the most was his voice. Kisumi’s sneer widened: he was going to take full advantage of this situation.

He put the bivalve necklace on and made sure it was secure before he swam out of his cave and towards the kingdom. He needed another merman or mermaid on his side for his plan to work.

He swam for about ten minutes until he came across a merman, probably in his mid-thirties, with an orange tail and blond hair, a star-shaved into the side of the quiff.

He would do perfectly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	8. Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and Sousuke try and find the merman.

Aiichiro groaned as he woke up. His right cheek felt rough against the sand, the rising sun was blinding him, and the water was washing over his legs.

He groaned again when he remembered what had happened. He didn’t regret it, not for a minute, but his body ached so much. He managed to roll over on the sand and glanced downwards, and sure enough, instead of a turquoise tail, Aiichiro had a pair of pale legs. He smiled in his drowsy state and reached over to a ripped sail that was left over from the wreckage of Rin’s ship. He smiled again as he draped the ripped cloth over his body. _Rin._ This was whom he was doing this for. He hummed happily to himself and fell back asleep.

…

Rin strolled along the beach, Sousuke at his side. They were both in bare feet, sand kicking up into their white formal trousers, and the light breeze fluttering the lapels of their bejewelled knee-length jackets. Sousuke was only a butler, but he had been friends with Rin for years now, and Rin disliked seeing his best friend in the palace uniform. And as grateful as Sousuke was for everything Rin did for him, he thought the prince was crazy. There was no way they were going to find a merman on the shore.

‘For the hundredth time,’ Rin said with a sigh, ‘I’m not expecting him to be here. I’m looking for evidence that he was here so you’ll believe me and help me find him.’

Sousuke rolled his eyes. ‘I still think you hit your head or something. You were half-drowning when this supposed merman found you. It was already a miracle you washed up on the beach next to the palace. It’s a bit of a stretch for you to have seen a merman, too.’

Rin tutted. ‘I know what I saw. Come on, tell me how you started courting Momo. I need to know in case the merman is really here.’

Sousuke sighed as they continued to walk along the beach. It was clear the prince wasn’t going to let this drop, and Sousuke wasn’t the type to not talk about his beautiful boyfriend when he was asked. ‘I asked his brother first. Seijuro would kill me if I started courting Momo without his permission. I have no idea how you’re going to ask the merman’s family to check it’s okay with them.’

Rin elbowed his butler in the ribs with a chuckle. ‘Alright, no need to rub it in. what courting gift did you give Momo? I can’t remember.’

Sousuke smiled as he recalled the memory. He’d stayed up all night, making chocolates by hand in the palace kitchens. ‘Chocolate.’

The prince groaned as he remembered. The skin under Sousuke’s eyes had been bright purple the day after because of how exhausted he’d been, but Momotarou had squealed and accepted the chocolates with so much gusto that Rin was sure his eardrums had burst. ‘Yeah, I remember now. But how do you get them to accept? You know, how do you make them fall in love with you?’

Sousuke smirked. ‘I think it helped that Momo was absolutely smitten with me from the moment we met.’

Rin tutted. ‘Of course, he was,’ he said sarcastically, but he agreed with Sousuke. Seijuro had been hired as a palace guard, and his younger brother had been hired along with him as a palace maid. They were both to serve Rin, and as soon as the Mikoshiba brothers had stepped into the prince’s quarters to introduce themselves, Momotarou practically had hearts in his eyes at the sight of Sousuke. Rin could only hope that his merman liked him already.

They came to the section of the beach where the wreckage from the boat lay. It was going to be cleared up later today, but Rin had wanted to take a look at it first for evidence of his merman.

The pair searched through the damp wood and ripped pieces of sail, but there was nothing substantial. Rin sighed as he glanced up and down the beach. There was another bit of sail further down that was bigger than the rest and it moved in the wind. Was that a… body underneath it? Rin took a few steps forward and his eyes widened when he saw a head of grey hair. ‘Sousuke!’

Before the butler could even turn around, Rin was already sprinting down the beach towards the merman.

Once he got there, the prince fell to his needs and he peeled back the sail gently. He was just as beautiful as Rin had remembered: plump cheeks, mole under his eyes, and a cute nose. There was also the addition of a delicate seashell necklace and… Rin’s eyes widened even further when he saw that the merman’s tail had gone and he now had a pair of legs. How could this be? Rin didn’t understand, but it was no matter: he knew this was his merman without a shadow of a doubt. He shrugged off his bejewelled jacket and wrapped his merman up in it. He picked him up, and once he made sure the merman’s head was cradled against his chest, he turned around.

Sousuke was stood there, mouth slightly open in surprise. ‘Is this him?’

‘Yes.’

‘Rin… he has legs, not a tail.’

‘Look, I know, but it’s him, I know it is. I would recognise him anywhere. Run ahead and get a room ready for him.’

Without another word, Sousuke dashed back along the beach to the ocean-side palace, and Rin followed him at a much slower pace. He couldn’t believe his luck: he had found his beautiful merman just lying there on the beach. He didn’t understand where his gorgeous tail had gone, but it was no matter. When he woke up, the merman could tell him all about with his sweet voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	9. Ten Toes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiichiro wakes up in the palace.

Aiichiro woke up again, but instead of groaning like he thought he would against the rough sand, he sighed happily into a soft pillow. He was so comfortable.

Wait.

He forced himself to open his eyes. He was led on white bedding and the room he was in was large, accentuated further by the silver headboard on the bed, mirrors, and large windows that were letting plenty of sunlight in.

The merman sat up a little then. This room was so… human. There was a set of shelves opposite the bed, holding coloured tomes of varying thickness and height. In the corner of the room was a tall chest that had its doors open, and hung up inside were gorgeous clothes. And all over the ceiling was silver gilding in various patterns. The room, although simple, was elegant in it’s own way. This place had to belong to a human, right? Were all human homes this grand, or was this human just well off?

Aiichiro’s heart rate picked up then. Someone had obviously found him on the beach and brought him here. Had he been kidnapped then? Did they know he was a prince? He wiggled in the bed a little, but there were no restraints attached to him, nothing tying him to the bed to suggest he was being kept here. But he should probably try and work out where here was before he tried to go anywhere.

At a glance, there seemed to be no personal effects in the room, until Aiichiro looked over at the bedside table. Balanced on a tome, like the one on the shelves, was some sort of drawing. It had three people in the frame, one of whom he recognised. It was Rin, his Rin, his human. Rin had found him and brought him to safety, he must have. He was so wonderful.

Aiichiro should probably try and call out for Rin to let him know he was okay. He cleared his throat and moved his mouth in the shape of “Rin”, but no sound came out. What was wrong with his voice? Aiichiro’s eyes widened when he remembered his deal with Kisumi. It was fine. It just meant he had to get up and find Rin. With his legs.

Aiichiro grinned as he threw the sheets from his body and giggled at the sight of his legs. They were fairly short, about as long as his tail had been, and encased in a pair of simple white trousers. And right at the end of his legs were his feet and toes. They were so small and cute and Aiichiro gave them an experimental wiggle. They were adorable! How could his father despise humans so much when they had these?

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and took a deep breath. He could do this. He could walk. He just had to take it one step at a time. Still sat on the bed, he set his feet on the ground. He had got this. He stood up and took one step forwards, then fell to the floor with a light thump.

Aiichiro sighed, not even bothering to try and get up, and just lay there and listened to the room’s door open and close.

‘Oh! Let me help you!’ Feet thumped across the floor towards him, and strong arms circled his body and lifted him back onto the bed.

Once he was settled, Aiichiro looked at who helped him and gasped. It was Rin, looking as gorgeous as ever, and smiling down at him, brilliant red hair dangling down into his face.

Rin took his time gazing at the merman, too. He was beautiful and cute and pretty and ten times more adorable as he was on the beach. Up this close, and led out on his bed, his merman was just perfect.

‘You’re the merman who rescued me, right?’ Rin asked as he sat down on the bed.

Aiichiro nodded.

‘What happened to your tail?’

He shrugged then. So far, he had managed to sigh, groan, and gasp, but words were definitely out of the question.

Rin pouted in confusion. ‘Can you tell me your name?’

Aiichiro shook his head, then pointed to his throat and shook his head again.

‘You can’t speak?’

Aiichiro nodded and Rin’s shoulders slumped. He had practically been pining, almost on the verge of desperate, to hear the merman’s beautiful voice again. But he at least had to know the boy’s name.

The redhead prince grabbed a notepad and pencil from his bedside table and held them out to the merman. ‘Can you at least write down your name?’

Aiichiro stared at the notepad and pencil with bewilderment. What was he supposed to do with those exactly?

Rin registered the look of confusion on the merman’s face. ‘Can you not read and write?’

Aiichiro shook his head.

‘And you definitely can’t speak?’

He shook his head again and Rin stood up from the bed.

‘Stay right here. Don’t move. I’m going to fetch the palace doctor.’ Rin rushed out of the room then without a backwards glance: he had to find out what was wrong with his merman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	10. Rin's Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin lets a doctor see his merman.

Rin stood in the corner of his bedroom by the wardrobe, biting his lip in worry as he watched Doctor Uozumi examine his merman.

The older man packed his equipment back into his medical bag, then went over to where Rin was stood.

‘So, what’s your verdict? Why can’t he speak?’

Doctor Uozumi shrugged. ‘I have no idea. He has a tongue and tonsils and there’s no evidence that his voice box has been removed. And the rest of him seems to be completely fine, apart from the worrying lack of muscle in his legs. Where did you say you found him?’

‘I didn’t,’ he said, getting a little defensive. He would be keeping the fact that the boy in his bed was actually a merman on a strict need-to-know basis. ‘Does that matter?’

The doctor sighed. ‘To be honest, the leg muscle is more of an issue than his voice. Help him with that first. Let me know if there any developments.’

‘I will.’

Doctor Uozumi left then and Rin turned to face the bed.

His merman was sat in the centre, swathed with white sheets, gripping them with tiny fists; his bright blue eyes wide and innocent. He was so gorgeous. He took Rin’s breath away with just one look. He wanted to get to know him. He wanted to fall in _love_ with him. But how could that happen if his boy couldn’t speak or read and write?

He met the eyes of his merman again and he could already feel his heart fluttering in his chest. He would make this work somehow.

With a smile, Rin went over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. He took one of the merman’s small hands and gently unfurled his fingers. ‘The doctor said there’s nothing wrong with your voice. But he said you have no muscle in your legs, so we should address that first.’ The prince sighed and rubbed circles into the palm of Aiichiro’s hand with his thumb. ‘I guess, for now, whilst we work on your leg muscle, I can teach you how to read and write. But I’ll have to call you something…’ Rin hummed. ‘You’re cute, and sweet, and beautiful. I think the name Princess would suit you.’ Then Rin leant down and kissed his knuckles.

Aiichiro’s whole face went red. He was a prince, not a princess. Yet being called that made him feel all soft and delicate. It suited him more than the title of prince did. And not to mention, he loved the way Rin said it. Not to mention how wonderful it felt to have Rin kiss his hand. Aiichiro felt like he was going to burst just from happiness alone.

‘Do you like that name?’

Aiichiro nodded, and then there was a knock at the door.

‘Come in,’ Rin called.

The door opened, and in came a tall and broad man with a bejewelled jacket on, and next to him was a smaller ginger-haired man of about Aiichiro’s height, wearing a black and white uniform.

Rin stood up from the bed then and smiled at the two men. ‘Princess, this is Sousuke, my butler and best friend, and this is Momo, a maid and Sousuke’s sweetheart,’ he said, gesturing to them each in turn.

Aiichiro smiled at them both and Momotarou opened his mouth to say something, but Rin rushed over to him. He whispered to them both, and the smiles faded from Sousuke and Momotarou’s faces. He was probably telling them about his lack of voice and Aiichiro’s own smile left his face. He wanted to speak, he really did, but he had agreed to this. It would be hard, but he could do it.

A moment later, Rin turned back to the bed. ‘Okay, Princess, they’re going to take you for a bath and new clothes.’

Aiichiro narrowed his eyes. He knew what clothes were, but he had no idea what a bath was.

Rin laughed at his facial expression. ‘Do you not understand?’

Aiichiro shrugged. How was he supposed to say partly without his voice?

‘Did you understand the word “clothes”?’

The merman nodded.

‘Bath?’

He shook his head and Rin’s mouth turned into a little ‘o’ shape.

‘No, I guess you wouldn’t know what a bath is… okay, so, since we’re not in water all the time, we use it a few times a week to wash ourselves. Do you understand now?’

Aiichiro nodded. It was a little odd. He didn’t go onto land to clean himself, but he understood. Maybe he would enjoy it.

Momotarou and Sousuke came over to the bed then and took Aiichiro’s arms gently into their hands. They helped him stand up from the bed, but thankfully kept holding him up. Aiichiro’s legs were wobbling like crazy just from the exertion alone of having to stand up. Once he managed to balance, though, he looked over at Rin. The redhead was stood away from the door and didn’t seem like he was about to leave the room with them. Was he not coming, too? What if these humans hurt him?

Rin registered the look of distress on his princess’ face and he hurried over to him. ‘It’s okay, I’ll be here when you’re done. I just have a few things to sort out,’ he said with a smile. ‘Believe me, princess, I wouldn’t let either of them anywhere near you if I thought they might harm you.’

Aiichiro bit his lip, then smiled back. He trusted Rin, so he let Momotarou and Sousuke lead him slowly out of the room, one shaky step at a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	11. Angel?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin introduces Aiichiro to the palace.

The bath ended up being much more exciting than Aiichiro had expected. The tub was huge, and once it had been filled with warm water, something that was called “bubbles” were added, it was magical. Aiichiro had seen them before in the ocean, but rarely and only an odd one or two at a time. Never like this.

Momotarou helped him into the bath and Aiichiro felt like letting out a giggle at the feeling of the bubbles. They were so soft against his skin and popped when he leant on them.

‘Here, do this.’ Momotarou reached into the water and gathered up some bubbles and put them on his face, making a beard for himself.

Aiichiro wanted to giggle, but when no noise came out, he just smiled at the other boy. He applied the bubble beard to his own face, and the maid laughed at him.

‘I don’t think Rin would like you with facial hair.’

The merman’s smile widened, wanting to giggle again. Rin made him feel so precious and protected.

The two boys washed their beards off, then Momotarou helped to wash him, but Aiichiro was distracted, admiring his cute toes and how they peeked out from in between the bubbles.

Momotarou smiled and pinched one of the small toes. ‘No wonder the prince likes you. You’re adorable.’

Aiichiro blushed. Rin thought he was adorable? He had already guessed that, but Rin was a prince? He thought back, to that day on the beach, and vaguely remembered hearing someone shout _your highness_. The merman grinned. Rin was a prince. He was a prince, too! That meant they could be together! His smile faded then. Did mer-royalty hold the same standing on land as it did under the sea?

‘That was a lot of emotions,’ Momotarou said as he grabbed a towel from by the basin, ‘but I understand. It was like that with me and Sousuke.’

Aiichiro gestured with his hands, as if asking for Momotarou to continue, and luckily, the maid understood.

‘I started working at the palace as Rin’s maid when I was fifteen and I met Sousuke pretty much straight away. He was Rin’s butler, too, then, but he’s not really much of a butler. They’ve been best friends since they were little so it’s just an excuse to have Sousuke around all the time. Not that I’m complaining. Anyway, I fell for Sousuke the moment I saw him, but regardless of whether or not he returned my feelings, I couldn’t do anything about it until I was eighteen. I have an older brother called Seijuro, and he works as a palace guard. He’s very protective over me and he said I wasn’t allowed to date anyone until I turned eighteen. But the closer it got to my birthday, the harder it became.

‘I was in love with Sousuke but I didn’t know how he felt about me, and my brother knew about my feelings so he would try to keep me away from Sousuke. It was really hard.’ Momotarou smiled. ‘But then on the morning of my eighteenth birthday, Sousuke gave me a box of chocolates. I thought they were my birthday present, but they were actually a courting gift. All the emotions I’d been through were definitely worth it.’

Aiichiro wanted to tell him how sweet he and Sousuke seemed together, so he settled for making a heart with his hands.

Momotarou laughed. ‘Thanks, I think. Come on, let’s get you dried and dressed.’

He grabbed a towel then helped the merman to stand. Aiichiro’s legs were shaking still, but Momotarou held him steady as he climbed out of the bathtub and carefully dried him off.

When he was all dry, Aiichiro held up his hands and smiled at the small wrinkles on the pads of his fingers. That had never happened to him in water before.

‘Here.’

Aiichiro looked up and saw that Momotarou was holding something fluffy and white with two holes in. He bit his lip. What was he supposed to do with that?

‘Oh, right, of course. Let me.’ Momotarou slipped Aiichiro’s arms through the holes, then wrapped the front of it around his body before tying it in place. ‘There. It’s called a robe. Or some people call it a dressing gown.’ The maid frowned. ‘Can you really not speak?’

Aiichiro shook his head.

‘It must be hard for you to not be able to talk to Rin properly and tell him how you feel.’

He blushed then, but before the conversation could go any further, the door burst open, revealing a girl who looked very similar to Rin, minus the sharp teeth.

‘Is this him?’ she asked, excitement clear in her voice. ‘Is he my brother’s boyfriend?’

Momotarou rolled his eyes. ‘I don’t think they’re courting, but yes, I suppose.’

Gou squealed and grabbed Aiichiro’s hands. ‘I’m Kou! Rin’s sister! He’s told me so much about you! About how you rescued him and sang for him and how beautiful you are…’

Aiichiro stood staring at her, a blush on his cheeks. It had only been a few days since he’d first seen Rin. Had he really spoken about him that much? His blush darkened and he smiled at the girl.

‘I’ve been so excited to meet you. What’s your name?’

‘Ah, he can’t speak, Kou,’ Momotarou said, stepping in now.

‘What? Why?’

‘We don’t know. Rin had the palace doctor take a look at him, but he couldn’t find anything wrong with his voice box.’

Aiichiro bit his lip, then reached out to grab Momotarou’s arm. His legs were shaking again and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand up.

Momotarou manoeuvred him around and sat him on the edge of the bath. ‘There you go.’

‘What’s wrong with his legs?’

With a sigh, Momotarou whispered something in Gou’s ear, and her entire face lit up. ‘You’re a merman?!’

Aiichiro just nodded and Gou squealed again. ‘That’s amazing! So, you must have saved my brother when he washed up on shore in that shipwreck. What happened to your tail, though?’ She paused, as if waiting for Aiichiro to talk, but then she gasped. ‘Of course, I’m sorry. You can’t tell us. Can you write it down?’

The merman shook his head and Gou frowned, clearly getting frustrated. ‘Well, what’s your name?’

‘Rin said to call him “Princess” for now, until we find out.’

She sighed. ‘Okay. Let’s get you dressed then.’

She and Momotarou helped him to stand, then they lead him out of the bathroom. They were in a hall, but before Aiichiro could even begin to look around and try to admire the décor, he was led into another room straight across from the bathroom.

This room was like Rin’s: simple and elegant, but instead of just silver decorations, pink was mixed in with them, too.

‘Let’s sit him down on my bed, then if you can go and get that blue and cream dress from my wardrobe, Momo?’

‘Yes, your Highness.’

Aiichiro was placed on the edge of the bed, then he smiled up at Gou before he pointed towards the walls, as if asking if this was her bedroom.

She nodded. ‘Yep. It’s mine. It’s like my brother’s. Did you wake up in there?’

He blushed as he nodded, recalling how wonderful it felt to wake up in Rin’s bed.

The princess tutted. ‘He’s so possessive… I’m surprised he left you alone long enough for you to wash.’

Before Aiichiro could even begin miming to ask her what she meant by that, Momotarou came over to the bed with a blue dress slung over his arms. ‘Did you mean this one?’

‘Yes! Let’s get him ready before my brother comes to find him.’

They carefully helped Aiichiro to stand up, then they took the robe off him and helped him to put on the dress.

‘As sure as I am that you’d want to wear Rin’s clothes, they’d be far too big for you.’

Aiichiro couldn’t help but blush again. Even if Rin’s clothes would be too big for him – which they definitely were, considering how large the prince was in comparison to him – he wanted to wear them anyway. Would Rin like it if he wore his clothes? He hoped he would.

Gou took his hands and guided him over to the mirror, and Aiichiro stared at himself in amazement as Momotarou laced the dress up in the back. The gown he was wearing was magnificent. It was made of something smooth and shiny and it was light blue, almost the same colour as his eyes. It was full length, and the skirt of the dress was wide, giving his legs plenty of room to move and practice walking. The sleeves stopped halfway between his elbow and wrist, the ends hemmed with cream lace, and the bodice had been trimmed with the same cream lace and some beading. It was gorgeous, and he looked good in it.

Momotarou finished with the fastening, and he and Gou stood at either side of him, smiling at his reflection.

‘You look amazing,’ the maid said.

‘You’re so cute,’ Gou added, and then the two of them started squealing.

Aiichiro wrinkled his nose up at the sound, not liking it, but it stopped swiftly when a tall redheaded man stepped into the room. It wasn’t Rin; this man was even taller, and his hair matched the same colour as Momotarou’s, and he was also dressed with weird metal plates seemingly attached to different parts of his body.

‘Is everything okay in here?’ he asked and a bright smile came over her face.

‘Everything is fine, Sei.’ She went over to him and he leant down and kissed her cheek.

‘There was a lot of squealing.’

The princess giggled and wrapped her hands around Seijuro’s arm. ‘We were just excited at how cute my brother’s boyfriend is.’

Seijuro finally clocked Aiichiro and he smiled at him.

‘This is Seijuro, my boyfriend, Momo’s brother, and a guard here at the palace.’

Aiichiro nodded, about to use his hands to ask a question about the metal on his body, but then Sousuke entered the room with Rin behind him.

The prince stopped in the doorway to his sister’s bedroom when he saw his merman. The boy had a light blush on his cheeks and his gorgeous grey hair was a little fluffy from the bath, but the dress accentuated his small frame perfectly, and he was completely astounded by the beauty of his princess.

He walked over to him and placed a kiss on his forehead. ‘You’re beautiful,’ he whispered, and his merman’s gorgeous face coloured up even more. ‘Come on. Let’s go to dinner. I want to introduce you to someone.’

Aiichiro smiled and hooked his arm through Rin’s, and he led him out of the room. He didn’t know where Rin was taking him, but he took the opportunity to admire the decorations in the hallway. It was a lot like the other rooms he’d been in so far; mainly white and simple, but with bursts of bright colour every so often. The windows were large, too, that let in lots of light, illuminating the white walls and marble floors. Rin’s palace was beautiful.

They descended some stairs with gleaming silver bannisters, then rounded the corner and into a large dining room. It had massive windows in here, almost going from floor to ceiling, and there was a large table running right down the centre. There were chairs surrounding it, but they were all empty apart from one right at the head of the table.

Rin walked over to them, and as they got nearer, Rin saw that it was a woman with red hair, just like Rin’s and Gou’s. She was beautiful and graceful, sat smiling with her back straight in her chair. She had a silver crown atop her head, filled with colourful stones, and her purple dress was long and elegant. Who was she?

‘Rin,’ she said as she stood up, and Rin unhooked his arm from his princess’ to go to her.

‘Mum.’ He kissed her on the cheek and Aiichiro smiled. He should have realised it sooner when he saw how similar they looked.

‘Who’s this?’ she asked, peering over her son’s shoulder.

With a smile, he returned to Aiichiro’s side. ‘He saved me from drowning in that shipwreck. He found me lying on the beach and I would have died if he hadn’t saved me. I would like for him to stay at the palace for a while to thank him.’

Aiichiro curtsied to her, his legs shaking, and the queen laughed.

‘Oh, I’ll have none of that when you saved my son’s life. What is your name?’

He bit his lip then and looked to Rin.

‘Ah, unfortunately, he’s mute, mum. But I’m going to call him Princess.’

She rolled her eyes fondly. ‘Of course, you are. Come on, let’s eat.’

Rin pulled a chair for Aiichiro and ushered for the merman to sit down.

He did and smiled up at Rin, and the queen watched them as they moved together. Both boys were blushing, quite badly, but they seemed absolutely smitten with each other. She wasn’t sure how a relationship with a mute boy would play out, but if he made Rin happy, then she wasn’t going to stop them from being together.

Rin leant over to Aiichiro once he was seated next to him. ‘I decided not to tell my mum about you being a merman,’ he whispered. ‘I hope that’s okay.’

Aiichiro nodded. That was probably for the best.

The redhead smiled at him. He couldn’t let his mum find out that his princess was a merman. She was would completely flip out. His dad, her husband, had drowned from chasing merfolk. They were practically banned from conversation. She didn’t even know about the merman Rin’s father had managed to catch and that was hidden inside the palace. He had to keep his princess’ true identity a secret for the time being.

‘Is Gou coming to dinner?’ the queen asked just as they began to eat.

‘I don’t think so. She was with Seijuro when I saw her, so I assumed she would be eating with him separately.’

Aiichiro tapped Rin on the arm then and pointed to his body, mimicking where the metal had been on the aforementioned guard.

‘Oh, that’s armour, to stop people from hurting him,’ Rin explained. ‘If someone tried to stab him, it would deflect off the metal, so he wouldn’t be hurt. Do you see what I mean?’

The merman nodded and carried on eating, but the queen eyed them suspiciously. Even though the boy was mute, surely he would have seen armour before and knew what it would be used for?

They finished eating and the queen stood up. ‘I’m going to retire for the evening. I’ll see you in the morning, Rin.’ She turned to Aiichiro then. ‘Thank you once again for saving my son.’

Aiichiro smiled up at her, then once she had left the room, he looked to Rin.

The redheaded prince was leaning back in his chair, his arms slung over his lap. He looked gorgeous in the dying sunlight that came in through the windows.

‘Did you enjoy the food, princess?’

Aiichiro nodded.

‘Then let’s go for a walk. It’ll help you get better at it.’

Rin helped him to stand up and he led the way out of the dining room. They walked down a few more corridors, and then they walked through a set of glass doors that went outside.

In the grounds of the Ocean Palace, they had wildlife, but they were usually corals in pinks and oranges, with seaweed growing out of the rocks and sand in between them. But the grounds of Rin’s palace were filled with an amazing amount of greenery, as well as smaller plants of a variety of different colours. And in the middle of it was a small pond, and running around the edge of the grounds was a river. It was beautiful, even now the sun had set.

Suddenly, a light darted in front of Aiichiro’s eyes and he gasped when he saw more light up around them. Feeling cautious, he turned to Rin and the prince smiled.

‘They’re called fireflies. They’re just small bugs that fly around and they light up. They won’t hurt you.’

Aiichiro let go of Rin, and slowly, he stepped towards the nearest firefly. It flew off immediately, but Aiichiro followed it, going further into the gardens.

Rin walked after him, his hands in his pockets and a light smile on his face as he watched his princess. His face was filled with curiosity as he went after the fireflies, and Rin would happily spend forever showing and telling his princess about everything on land. But it would be a lot easier if he could talk.

With a quiet sigh, Rin leant against a tree trunk and watched his princess, who was now sat on the grass, a big smile on his face as the fireflies buzzed all around him. He didn’t know how this was going to work. And even if his princess still had his voice, that wasn’t the biggest issue. How had he gotten his legs? Rin had quite clearly seen the turquoise tail on the beach. He hadn’t been imagining it, had he? No, he was certain. His princess and saviour was a merman. But was this the right one? Rin remembered his face fairly well, but he remembered the sound of his voice even better. He was sure it was him, but hearing his voice would confirm for him completely that his princess was the one who had saved his life. But he’d get his voice back soon, Rin was sure of it.

He went over to his princess then and helped him to stand up. ‘Come on, you’ve had a long day. Let’s get you to bed.’

Aiichiro nodded and held Rin’s hand as he led them back inside. Would they get to sleep together? He hoped so. Rin’s body was so much bigger in comparison to his. He would be able to keep him warm if they cuddled together.

They ascended the silver staircase and stopped a moment later, outside a door that looked similar to those that led into Rin and Gou’s bedrooms. Rin opened it and ushered Aiichiro inside.

It was like the other two bedrooms, but without any personal effects in it. Rin seated him down on the bed with a smile.

‘This is where you’ll be staying while you’re at the palace. I’ll come by and get you in the morning before breakfast. And then we can spend some more time together, yeah?’

Aiichiro pouted and tried to get off the bed. He wanted to stay with Rin. He didn’t manage to get up, but he got hold of Rin’s shirt and pulled slightly, trying to show what he wanted to say.

Rin just smiled and placed a light kiss on the top of his head. ‘You’re too cute, but we’re not allowed to share a bed, princess. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?’

The merman nodded, showing he was clearly not happy when he wouldn’t meet Rin’s eyes.

The prince curled one of his fingers and put it under Aiichiro’s chin, then lifted his princess’ head with it. ‘We’ll spend all day together tomorrow. And maybe they’ll be chance for a quick nap together at some point, yeah? Would you like that?’

Aiichiro nodded, a bright smile on his face now.

‘Then I bid you goodnight.’ He placed another kiss on Aiichiro, this time on the tip of his nose, and when he left the room, the merman let himself fall backwards on to the squishy bed. He couldn’t stop smiling and he could feel his heart beating quickly under his dress and ribcage. Rin was so wonderful. He couldn’t wait to spend all day with him tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	12. One Fine Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and Aiichiro spend the day together.

When Rin knocked on the door of Aiichiro’s room the next morning, the merman answered straight away.

He’d been up for two hours: he’d been far too excited to fall back asleep when he knew he’d be spending time with Rin today. He’d washed in the small adjoining bathroom _and_ dressed himself. It had taken a while, as he had to sit down every five minutes because of his legs, but he’d done it and he felt all the better for it. And if the proud look on Rin’s face was anything to go off, it was certainly worth it.

‘You managed to get ready yourself, princess?’

Aiichiro grinned as he nodded. 

Rin smiles. ‘You’re amazing. But you must have been up early to do it. Will you not be too tired?’

The merman shook his head, but maintained his enthusiastic facial expression.

‘You’re full of energy this morning. Come on, let’s get some food in you.’ The prince offered his arm and Aiichiro linked them together immediately.

They walked down the palace halls together, and Aiichiro fiddled with the prince’s long fingers and Rin watched him with a small smile. His princess was so cute.

They arrived at the dining room, the same one as last night. The Queen wasn’t there, but Gou was. She was sat down and was eating, chatting with Seijuro, who was stood opposite her, leaning against the wall and holding a long metal object that was not all dissimilar to his father’s trident.

A pang went through Aiichiro’s chest when he remembered his father. He hoped he was okay, even though he had treated him like a prisoner just before he left.

Sousuke was stood next so Seijuro, and Momotarou was stood by the table, laying out two place settings. He finished just as the two princes approached the table, then he turned to smile at them. ‘What can I get you for breakfast?’

‘I’ll have bacon and eggs,’ Rin said. ‘Do you want to try that, too, Princess?’

Aiichiro nodded. He’d enjoyed the food he’d eaten last night, but he had no idea what any of it was called.

Momotarou nodded and he and Sousuke left the room. 

Seijuro glared at Sousuke’s retreating back. ‘Do they really have to go together?’

Gou rolled her eyes fondly. ‘There’ll be two meals to carry. It makes sense.’

‘But what if they kiss on the way there?’

‘Be grateful that they don’t kiss in front of you...’ Rin muttered.

‘What are your plans for today?’ Gou asked her brother when Momotarou and Sousuke came back with food. 

‘I got Sousuke to clear my schedule, so I can spend the whole day with my princess.’

Aiichiro’s while face lit up. The whole day?

Rob laughed when he saw the look on his face. ‘I was thinking that we could go swimming after breakfast, then, after lunch, I wanted to start teaching you how to read and write. How does that sound?’

Aiichiro smiles even wider. In all honesty, he didn’t care what they did, as long as he was with Rin. 

They finished eating, then Momotarou took Aiichiro back to his room. He helped him to change out of his gown and into a pair of cotton pants, then they walked together to the palace grounds. 

When they were halfway there, Aiichiro tapped Momotarou on the shoulder so the maid turned to look at him. When he did, Aiichiro made a heart with his hands and tapped his lips.

Momotarou laughed. ‘Are you trying to ask me if I kissed Sousuke before?’

Aiichiro nodded. 

‘Of course, I did. My brother doesn’t like me doing it in front of him, but he has the tendency to always hover nearby, so we steal chances whenever we get. Including when getting breakfast.’ The maid giggled and they made their way outside.

In the grounds, next to the pond, stood Rin, wearing a similar pair of cotton pants. 

‘Do you want me to stay?’ Momotarou asked when they got close enough. 

Rin shook his head. ‘I can take of my princess. Go and spend time with Sousuke.’

The maid left with a smile and Aiichiro stumbled over to Rin’s side. 

The prince wrapped an arm around his waist, his thumb rubbing small circles into his hip. ‘Ready to swim?’

Aiichiro nodded. 

‘I hope your legs work as well as your tail did in the water, because I have no idea how to teach you how to swim.’

Aiichiro just shrugged: he was sure he could get the hang out if. 

They waded into the sizeable pond together, hand in hand, and once they got deep enough, Aiichiro let go of Rin and kicked his legs back and forth, the same way he’d controlled his tail, and he began to swim. 

Rin watched him with a big smile on his face. ‘You haven’t forgotten, have you?’

Aiichiro shook his head, then sucked in a breath and dove under the water. The pond was deceptively deep and teeming with fish, and Aiichiro swam after the small shoals with a large smile on his face.

Rin watched him from just under the surface of the water. Seeing the way his princess swam, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he was his merman. He hadn’t ever seen him swim as a merman, but it was obvious from the way that he struggled walking but swam naturally. There was no doubt in his mind anymore. 

He swam down deeper and attempted to chase the fish with his princess but he was nowhere near fast or agile enough.

Aiichiro saw him out of the corner of his eye and a giggle escaped his mouth. He stopped swimming then, shocked. He hadn’t been able to giggle prior to this. How come he could now?

He rose out of the water and Rin followed him up to the surface. They were both panting but the redheaded prince couldn’t take his eyes off his merman. He knew it was him now, and he didn’t want to waste another second without telling him how he felt.

He swam towards his princess, and when he was near enough, he gently cupped his face in his hands. 

Aiichiro gasped. Was it really happening? Was Rin going to kiss him? Then he could get his voice back and he would be able to tell Rin everything.

Their faces drew closer together, their cheeks almost brushing, and-

The boys sprang apart when someone behind them cleared their throat.

With a flushed face, Rin turned around and saw Sousuke and Momotarou stood there, both of them holding towels. 

‘Lunch is almost ready,’ the butler said and Rin rose out of the pond, glaring at his best friend. 

‘Great. Momo, help my princess. Sousuke, with me.’

‘Yes, your highness.’

The prince walked out of the pond and snatched the towel that Sousuke was holding. He tied it around his waist as he walked back through the grounds, Sousuke one step behind him. 

‘Thanks for interrupting that.’

‘Interrupting what?’

‘I was about to kiss him!’

‘Really?’

Rin spun around to face him. ‘Seriously? You spend every spare moment you get kissing Momo, and you honestly have no idea what it looks like when you’re about to kiss someone?’

Sousuke shrugged. ‘Sorry.’

Rin rolled his eyes. He loved his best friend, but he could be clueless sometimes. 

...

Once they had both changed and eaten lunch, Rin and Aiichiro walked to the other side of the palace where the library was located. It was set over two storeys, and the bookshelves seemed to extend for miles and miles into the silver and white ceiling up above them. Aiichiro wished they’d had something like this in the Ocean Palace. Where his father was. His marvelling at Rin’s library ebbed away a little. Every time he thought about his father, he felt guilty. But it wasn’t like there was much he could do about it now. He couldn’t go home even if he wanted to. And he didn’t.

Rin led him into the centre of the room and sat him down at a round table. ‘I’ll be back in a minute, princess,’ he said with a smile, and a moment later, he returned holding a book, some sheets of parchment, and a pencil. He set them all down on the table and turned to his merman with a smile.

‘Are you ready?’

Aiichiro nodded.

‘Then let’s begin. Tug on my arm if you want a break.’ Rin picked up the book and smoothed out one of the pages and Aiichiro started at in awe. He had never seen anything like this before.

Rin’s red eyes scanned the page, then he pointed to a letter. ‘This is A, the first letter of the alphabet. You write it like this.’ Rin wrote the character down at the top of the piece of paper, then held the pencil out to his princess. ‘Want to have a go?’

Aiichiro took the pencil from him, but dropped it a moment later. How was he supposed to hold it?

‘Here.’ Rin picked the pencil up and positioned it between Aiichiro’s fingers gently. His fingertips were so warm against him, and it made his skin tingle. 

Aiichiro wrote the letter onto the paper next to Rin’s. His penmanship was shaky, but legible, and he turned to Rin when he was done for approval.

‘You’re amazing, princess.’

They spent three hours going over the alphabet, Aiichiro not once stopping for a break. Learning these foreign characters mentally exhausted him, and he wasn’t able to form words yet, but the proud look Rin shot him after he understood each letter was enough to keep him going. Soon, they would be able to talk properly. Soon. 

After dinner, they took another walk in the grounds, and as they went around the pond, Rin couldn’t help but remember their almost kiss from earlier. He had wanted it to happen so badly. Ever since his merman has rescued him, he had been the only thing on his mind, and that included imagining kissing the one who had saved him. But if they were going to spend every day together like this, then it would more than likely happen again, right? Right. They had forever to fall in love. 

They eventually made their way back into the palace and they lingered at the door to Aiichiro’s room, hands brushing together ever so slightly. They were stood toe to toe and Rin smiled down at his merman. He was so much taller than him in comparison. He wanted nothing more than to just gather him in his arms and carry him everywhere. But he couldn’t. Not yet. 

‘I’ll come for you in the morning, before breakfast,’ he whispered. There was no one else around to hear him, but he felt like he should be quiet. With the way his merman was looking at him, with wide eyes and a light smile on his face, this moment between them felt intimate. ‘Is that okay, princess?’

Aiichiro nodded. 

‘Then I’ll see you in the morning. Good night, princess.’ Then Rin leant down and kissed him on the cheek. 

The prince left after that but Aiichiro stayed stood there, in shock for a moment, just staring at where Rin had stood, then a massive smile spread across his face. Rin had kissed him! Not on the lips, but still! That had to mean something! He wanted to squeal or giggle or make some kind of sound but nothing came out, but that couldn’t stop him from being happy. He was certain nothing could in this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	13. Deception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kisumi arrives at the ocean-side palace.

Once again, when Rin came for Aiichiro in the morning, his princess was already dressed. They both smiled at each other, then the redhead placed his hands on Aiichiro’s waist as he leant in and kissed him on the cheek.

Aiichiro’s face coloured up a pretty pink and Rin’s smile couldn’t help but widen. ‘I was thinking about you all night,’ the prince said. He had stayed up for hours, led in the middle of his bed, staring up at the ceiling, wishing his princess was right there beside him. ‘You as well?’

Aiichiro nodded and Rin kissed his cheek again. ‘I’m glad. Come on, let’s go for some breakfast.’

One of Rin’s hands stayed on Aiichiro’s waist as they walked down to the dining room together. ‘What do you want to do today?’ the redhead asked.

With his hands, Aiichiro mimed writing and Rin hummed.

‘You want to learn how to write some more? I want to teach you more, too, so I can learn your name. But when I do, I think I’ll still call you princess anyway.’

They entered the dining room, but instead of Gou being sat in there like yesterday, the queen was there, and sat to her right were tow men. The younger one, and the one sat closer to the queen, had pink hair, and the older man had blond hair.

They both stood up when Rin and Aiichiro entered the room, and the merman’s face lit up when he saw that the pink-haired man was Kisumi. Perhaps he’d come to check up on him? That could be the only reason he was here. He was a good friend.

‘Rin,’ the queen said, a smile on her face, ‘this is Goro Sasabe, King of Samezuka, and his son, Prince Kisumi. They will be staying with us for a while.’

The redhead nodded, a little suspicious. He no longer had private tuition lessons, but he had been made to study the other kingdoms when he had them. And from what he could remember, Samezuka wasn’t one of them. And on top of that, Sasabe’s eyes looked weird. They had a strange quality to them, like they were cloudy and glassy at the same time.

‘It’s nice to meet you, Prince Rin,’ Kisumi said and Rin and Aiichiro’s heart dropped into the pit of their stomachs.

That was _his_ voice. Kisumi had stolen his voice. Tears welled up in Aiichiro’s eyes. Kisumi had used him.

Rin stood there, dumbfounded. He thought he had found the one who had saved him. He looked the same. But here was Kisumi, speaking with that voice. He didn’t know what to think. ‘Y-you, too,’ he stuttered.

‘Kisumi was just telling me that he’s learning how to play the harp,’ the queen said, not noticing the change of mood in the room, ‘so I asked Sousuke and Seijuro to bring it in from the music room.’

For the first time that morning, they noticed that Sousuke and Seijuro were stood in the corner of the room by a golden harp.

‘Will you play for us, Kisumi?’ the queen asked.

The pink-haired man smiled rather sheepishly. ‘Oh, I’m not sure, your Majesty…’

‘Oh, go on!’

‘Since you’ve insisted.’ Kisumi went to sit on the stool by the harp, then began to play, and after a few moments, he started to sing.

Now Rin was even more confused. The singing was exactly the same as that on the beach. But how could that be possible when the one who had saved him was stood right beside him?

Aiichiro registered the look of confusion on Rin’s face and he panicked. Kisumi _knew_ he had saved the prince. And now he was using his voice to take Rin for himself. He grabbed Rin’s arm to get his attention, and once the redhead turned to look at him, Aiichiro vehemently shook his head, then pointed to his throat, trying to tell the prince it was his voice.

Rin nodded, understanding what his princess was trying to say, but he was still so confused. He didn’t know what was going on.

The song came to an end and the queen clapped, as did Sasabe.

‘That was marvellous!’

Kisumi giggled as he bowed, then came to sit back down at the table. ‘Thank you, your Majesty. Did you like it, your Highness?’ he asked, looking at Rin now, but he kept his head bowed slightly, as if to pretend he was being bashful.

‘Y-yeah.’

The queen looked between her son and Prince Kisumi and smiled. ‘Rin, why don’t you take Kisumi out rowing this afternoon? So you can get to know each other.’

‘I’d really like that, your Majesty.’

Rin nodded. ‘Of course. I-if anyone needs me, I’ll be in the library.’ He marched out of the room, his fists clenched. He was really falling for his princess, and now Kisumi was seriously screwing with his head. He needed to do some research before he proceeded any further.

Aiichiro barely registered Rin leaving the room. He simply stared at Kisumi. He was so angry. He had trusted Kisumi, but the sea witch had used him. He had known exactly what he was doing the moment he saw Aiichiro, and this was his plan all along: to steal his voice _and_ Rin for himself. And for Aiichiro to be stuck as a human forever. He would never see his father again. _His father_ … Tears filled Aiichiro’s eyes. If he hadn’t been so selfish and just obeyed his father, then none of this would have ever happened.

He glared at Kisumi and opened his mouth, his lips moving in the shape of the words he wanted to say, but the sounds didn’t come out, and Aiichiro left the room, crying. He couldn’t let this be the end of it. He couldn’t. But he didn’t know what to do. There wasn’t anything he could possibly do. He couldn’t talk, nor read or write well enough to explain his situation to someone. He was doomed to live as a human forever and watch Rin fall in love with who he thought was his saviour.

‘Oh!’

Aiichiro ran head first into Momotarou’s chest and the merman prince fell to the floor.

‘Are you okay?!’ Momotarou asked as he knelt down, and gasped when he saw that he was crying. Surely they couldn’t have smacked into each other that hard?

Aiichiro started to cry in earnest now and Momotarou immediately flung his arms around the smaller boy.

‘Come on. Let’s get you to your room.’

He helped Aiichiro to stand and the two boys slowly made their way down the hall towards the stairs. Momotarou didn’t know how he could possibly find out what was wrong with the merman, but he would try his best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	14. Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiichiro is inconsolable.

Kisumi chuckled to himself as Sasabe fed him fish. The queen and the servants had left the room shortly after Aiichiro. The poor boy. He’d given up everything he’d ever known for Rin, but he wouldn’t get him. He would be Kisumi’s.

The sea witch swallowed another mouthful of mackerel. Aiichiro was so naïve. Had he honestly thought that his intentions were innocent that he wouldn’t use his pretty voice? Kisumi was so glad that Makoto was such a protective father. He could never have pulled this off otherwise. It was just a shame that the king of the ocean would more than likely never see his precious son again.

One of the guards – Seijuro, Kisumi thought his name was – entered the room.

‘Your highness, you have been given free reign to the palace, but the queen wishes to see your Majesty in the throne room. She wishes to discuss something with you.’

They both nodded and once Seijuro left the room, Kisumi smirked: his plan was just beginning.

…

As soon as they got to Aiichiro’s room, the boy curled up in the centre of the bed as he soundlessly sobbed. All he wanted right now was to go home and hug his father and apologise for what he’d done. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t go home until he had been kissed. And now that Kisumi had arrived, using _his_ voice, he had no chance.

Momotarou watched from the foot of the bed. How was he supposed to comfort someone who couldn’t even tell him why he was upset? He didn’t know, but he had to try.

He went over to the bed, and once he had settled down on the plush bedding. Aiichiro curled up beside him. Momotarou ran his fingers through his hair to help soothe him.

‘Why don’t I give you a bubble bath?’ Momotarou suggested, remembering how much Aiichiro had enjoyed it the other day.

Aiichiro shook his head. There was only one thing, or rather, one person, he wanted at this very moment. He mouthed Rin’s name, and Momotarou nodded.

He understood. ‘I know. Many people have fallen for him. If it’s any consolation, you’re the only one who’s ever stood a chance with the prince, but even then… he _is_ a prince, after all. He has to marry into royalty no matter how much he may like you.’

Aiichiro only sobbed harder. _He_ was royalty. _He_ was eligible to marry Rin. That’s what made this all the more harder.

…

Rin was in the library, frantically pulling books off shelves and taking them to one of the study tables. He couldn’t, for the life of him, remember anything about the kingdom of Samezuka. He found dribs and drabs of information here and there in the books he’d picked. They were a very small and fairly poor kingdom that was situated on an island in the middle of one of the oceans. They had no army to speak of, and the only way they seemed to make money were their exports of coconuts and pineapples. But the history of the kingdom was vague at best, and the only information it gave on their royal family was that it had one. That was it.

Would his mother make Rin marry Kisumi then? If he really was from Samezuka, and the books were correct, then the Matsuokas had absolutely nothing to gain financially from them, nor extra men for the army, and no real extra land either. And on top of that, Kisumi made Rin’s head hurt. He was so certain that the grey-haired boy was the one who had rescued him on the beach. But he’d heard his voice more than he’d seen his face. And that voice belonged to Kisumi.

Rin groaned. He couldn’t let his mother force him into marrying Kisumi, not until he knew who had saved him. But how he would find out, he had no idea.

He carried on reading, searching for more information, but looked away from the pages when he heard the library doors creak open. His merman – or who he thought was his merman – came around the corner of a bookcase a moment later, tears streaming down his face, and Momotarou was at his side.

‘I’m sorry, but I didn’t know where else to bring him.’

Rin sat back in his chair. ‘It’s okay.’ He held out a hand. ‘Come here, princess.’

Aiichiro ran to him, and a moment later, he was seated on the redheaded prince’s lap, crying as Rin held him. ‘It’s alright, princess. Is this because of Kisumi?’

The grey-haired boy nodded as he sat back, sniffing as he wiped away his tears.

‘I don’t want him here either,’ Rin said. ‘I’ve been trying to find information about him, but so far, I have nothing. I’m so confused, though. I was certain it was you who rescued me. Yet Kisumi’s voice…’

Aiichiro profusely shook his head then, pointing to himself desperately.

‘It was you, wasn’t it?’

He nodded.

Rin sighed. What was he supposed to believe? The evidence couldn’t lie, but he wanted it to. He _needed_ it to. ‘Come on. Let’s talk about that later. I’ll give you another reading and writing class.’

He manoeuvred Aiichiro around in his lap so they were both facing the desk and Rin moved the books out of the way to find some spare pieces of parchment and the quills and inkpots.

The prince held his merman against his chest and took his right hand in his, guiding the grey-haired boy’s hand over the page as they wrote the alphabet together. They moved slowly together, breathing shallow and hearts stuttering in their chests. Rin wanted this beautiful boy in his arms to be the one who had rescued him. He truly did. Why did Kisumi have to show up and confuse him?

Once they had written all twenty-six letters, Rin sat back in his chair, but Aiichiro stayed leant over the desk, writing. He turned around a moment later holding a piece of parchment, and written with shaky penmanship was:

_K?_

Rin couldn’t help but smile. His merman had worked out the first letter of Kisumi’s name. And even though it wasn’t under happy circumstances, it made him proud.

He rested his hands on Aiichiro’s hips. ‘I don’t like him. And I’m scared my mum will make me marry him, but I want…’ He was about to blurt out and tell the merman that he was the one he wanted, but it had only been two days. He didn’t want to jeopardise this little bubble they’d built around themselves, that was already threatened by Kisumi, by admitting that he had feelings for him.

The doors to the library opened again and Rin looked away from his merman just as Sousuke, unfortunately accompanied by Kisumi, approached his table.

‘Rin, it’s time for rowing,’ his best friend said, Kisumi smirking beside him.

The redhead nodded and kissed the cheek of his merman. ‘Keep working at it, princess. I’ll check it later.’

Aiichiro nodded and smiled in glee as Rin lifted him off his lap and set him down in the chair once he’d vacated at it. And he would have smiled that way the whole afternoon if he hadn’t caught the dark scowl on Kisumi’s face that was cast in his direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right so I decided Samezuka would ship out coconuts and pineapples because I work as a note taker and my student studies business and I’ve been helping him revise for his economics exam and we have to work out the comparative advantage of Jamaica’s pineapple production in terms of coconuts to the Dominican Republic and long story short in this alternate universe of the world Jamaica has a two and a half coconuts worth of pineapple production advantage over the Dominican Republic and I know there are literally less than ten people reading this fic but I’m just saying if you need help with your economics exam hmu I will not be able to help you (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧


	15. Wedding Announcement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin's engagement is announced.

‘It was a really nice trip down here,’ Kisumi said.

He and Rin were sat in the rowing boat, travelling gently down the river in the palace grounds, but the redhead was silent, completely consumed by his thoughts. The more and more Kisumi spoke, all Rin could think about was that day on the beach and that maybe Kisumi was the one who had saved him, not his sweet grey-haired princess. And whilst the initial evidence pointed it to being Kisumi as the one who rescued him, there were other things that he’d overlooked. He had found his princess washed up on the beach, and when he’d woken up, he’d been unable to walk. Whereas Kisumi had seemingly no trouble walking, was dressed in fine clothes, and claimed to be from a far off kingdom. Surely that evidence pointed to his princess being the merman who saved him? He wanted it to be him.

‘Your Highness? Am I boring you?’ Kisumi asked, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.

‘Hmm? Oh, no, sorry. I was just distracted,’ Rin said as he rowed.

The sea witch narrowed his eyes, he knew Rin was thinking about Aiichiro. But that would soon change. He plastered a fake smile on his face. ‘This is really embarrassing to ask but… do you remember how I rescued you?’

It was Rin’s turn to narrow his eyes. He’d play along. ‘I do. I’ve been wanting to hear you sing again.’

Kisumi grinned. ‘For you, anything.’ He started to sing, but less than ten seconds into the song, Rin interrupted him.

‘I’m sorry, but perhaps I should have been more specific. I meant the song you sang when you rescued me.’

Kisumi glared at Rin. This prince was clever. He’d already worked out who Aiichiro was, and he wasn’t thrown by Kisumi using his voice. But he had more tricks up his sleeve to manipulate the redhead.

He held up his right hand and it filled with a bright pink light.

Rin’s eyes widened in alarm, but before he could ask what was going on, Kisumi swiped his hand to the left, and the boat went with it. It crashed into the side of the bank, and both Rin and Kisumi went overboard.

The redheaded prince held back the involuntary reflex to gasp in air and he held his breath as he swam up to the surface. He was panting as he crawled onto the bank, as was Kisumi, and they sat on the grass, both sodden and sat a considerable distance apart.

‘If you ever cross me again,’ Kisumi said, still struggling for breath, ‘I’ll hurt your princess.’

Before Rin could respond. Sousuke and Seijuro rushed over to them with towels.

‘What happened?’ Sousuke asked as the two princes took their offered towels.

‘I think the tide must have changed suddenly, and it was really strong. We couldn’t do anything about it,’ Kisumi said, doing his best to look scared and vulnerable.

‘Is that true?’ Seijuro asked.

Rin nodded. He didn’t want to argue and risk putting his merman in danger. And after what had just happened, it was clear that his grey-haired princess was the one who had rescued him, not Kisumi. But it was also clear that Kisumi was dangerous. He had to be careful.

‘Go and dry off,’ Sousuke asked, ‘then the queen wants to see you both in the throne room.’

The redhead prince nodded again and ran the towel through his wet hair as he walked back into the palace.

Kisumi watched him go with a smirk. He had the two princes wrapped around his little finger.

…

Once he had changed into some dry clothes, Rin went to the throne room, and was more than a little confused when he saw that his mother and sister were both sat on their thrones, and the entire royal court had gathered inside. What on earth was going on?

He walked up the centre aisle and saw that Kisumi and his father were stood at the top, smiling at him. Rin ignored them and spotted his grey-haired princess in the crowd and they shared a smile. As soon as this was over, whatever this was, he needed to talk to his merman about what had happened with Kisumi in the boat.

Rin went to sit on his own throne, and then his mother stood up, and the throne room quietened.

‘Thank you for all coming here at such short notice. I have a very important announcement to make. Just this morning, I met with King Sasabe and Prince Kisumi of the Kingdom of Samezuka and they are absolutely wonderful. It is also quite clear that my son, Crown Prince Rin, is completely smitten with Prince Kisumi. So, after much discussion, I am delighted to announce the engagement of Rin and Kisumi.’

The whole room clapped and cheered but Rin felt like his heart had stopped beating. He and Kisumi were… no… how could his mother do this to him? He looked over at his princess and their eyes met. His merman’s gorgeous blue eyes were swimming with tears and Rin just shook his head. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. But he had time to solve this. Weddings took an age to plan. He could get out of this. He had to.

The cheers died down and the queen smiled. ‘I’m glad you’re all so happy. You’ll be even happier to know that they’ll be married in a month’s time.’

‘What?!’ Rin shouted as he stood up.

‘What Rin means is,’ Kisumi said as he stepped up towards the thrones, ‘that he wishes to be married sooner. Within a week, perhaps?’ He glared at Rin then and the redhead saw the pink light dancing on the ends of Kisumi’s fingers. He had no choice but to agree.

He just nodded and looked at the floor. He couldn’t bear to see the look on his princess’ face. But as soon as this horrible announcement was over, he would explain everything.

The Queen clapped her hands together. ‘That’s fine by me! It looks like we have a wedding to plan! Thank you for coming to hear the announcement, everyone, but please, return to attending your duties. And spread the word! I’m sure the entire kingdom will be just as delighted as I am to hear of this news.’

The royal court started to file out of the room, Aiichiro with them, and Rin went to follow him, but his mother grabbed his arm.

‘Where are you going?’

‘I just need to-’

‘Rin, come on, it’s your wedding. If you want it to happen in a week, we need everyone’s input and help.’

‘Mother, please...’

His merman turned around then, and Rin’s heart broke at the look of utter devastation on his princess’s face. One day. That’s all it had taken. Kisumi had ruined the little world they’d built together in one single day. He didn’t know what hurt more: his mother actually going along with Kisumi’s charade, or his angel believing he wanted this, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


End file.
